No matter what your skill level, it is safe to say that when you are trying to keep abreast of all of the activity taking place on Twitter help is always handy. Twitter itself offers many great features to help you make sense of their fast-moving landscape. Among these features are: suggested people to follow, lists, searching, and the Trends feature – one in particular which is under utilized by Twitter newbies.
Trends on Twitter are (basically) the most popular stories, topics and hashtags currently being tweeted about. These trends are reported in real-time and change quite often, and are a great way to see what hot stories you can relate your business to and/or join in on the discussion to create exposure for your brand.
The only problem with Twitter trends? It was tough for local marketers (or those focused on specific cities and regions) to see what was trending in their city. While Twitter would pull from your network, not all members of your network will be focused in the area that you want to target. So finding out what was important to your target market was always a bit tricky.
Twitter has since changed this and has enabled you to fine tune your Trends search, now to include laser focused local markets! And the best part? It takes less than 5 steps to get it done. Let’s get started:
- Log in to your Twitter account.
- Once logged in, on the left hand side of the page you will see a box that says “Trends”. Next to this title is the word “Change” – click this.
- This will generate a pop-up window which will ask you if you would like to “Change” or “Keep tailored Trends”. Click “Change”.
- On the next pop-up window you are able to specify the specific city you want to generate Trends for. So either choose from the supplied list or “search locations” in the top bar. Once you have found your city of choice, click “Choose Location” and the window will close.
So in those 4 simple steps, you were able to change your Trending topics to reflect those of your specific target market. And it doesn’t end here folks. If you are targeting numerous cities, you can go back in and repeat the process to see exactly what people in your cities are talking about.
What is the power of this?
Quite simply, you can create your content and outflow based on and around these trending topics. By using the same hashtags and joining in on the discussion, you will be able to get more exposure to your target market in the specific city you wish.
For example, if you were an assisted living facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, you would change your Trends to be focused on Pittsburgh, PA. Then in the list of Trends for Pittsburgh, say one of the top suggestions is #dementia. As this is a popular topic, you can either create an update (“Interesting new report on the relationship between friendship and #dementia: http://www.xxx.com), join in the discussion (“What is the best #dementia resource that you have found?) or click the topic in the Trends result box. When you do this, on the right hand side of the page, all of the tweets related to #dementia will pop up, including those who have tweeted them You can then respond to their queries, ReTweet them, follow them, and more. My tip here is to remember to continue using the trending topic and associated hashtag so your outflow will be put into the trending feed.
A word of caution – Twitter moves fast, so if you want to utilize a trending topic, you must do it quickly as they change often. Depending on how many major things are happening in your target market, it can be multiple times per hour.
Get in there, find your area, pick your trend and begin engaging with the trend! Let me know how you get on!
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